I miss you, I miss you, I miss you. At first I hardly noticed it. I would imagine doing certain things and think of you, a slight tightness in my chest as my smile faltered. But, slowly, surely, my life became dull, like a smooth grey wall under a rainy smudge of grey sky. My feet were drenched in a pool of grey tears, and thrown pebbles shone like lost dreams under the murky water. Would I ever see you again? The words echoed through the loudspeaker of the dim school hallway as I shook my grey umbrella dry, pretending the rain had never touched it, pretending I had never felt that way. My fingers reached up to touch the sole remaining raindrop on my face, but my mouth began to tremble and the walls around me crumbled like soggy breadcrumbs. My knees gave up beneath me as I sank to watery ground, my wet, colorless hair stuck to my brow as my head hung low.

In the gray lake I sat in, I glimpsed a bright, glimmering reflection. A soft pink smile and long, blonde braid was woven into the mirage-like image that met my eyes. My fingers hesitantly grazed the water, hoping, wishing...

Could it be…?

The image laughed sweetly and clearly like the ringing of a bell, and she held out her delicate hand as if she could reach me, touch me.

Can she?

I submerged my hand in the water, confidently uncertain, and a shiver of sparks met my fingertips like a gasp of air to drowned lungs.

In a blink, the rain sunk into the grassy ground and the sun shone through white cotton clouds. I was on my feet again, staring through the crystal clear school window pane at a girl with shiny, golden hair and a wide, pearly smile.

Me.